Watch CBS News

Massacre gunman's sister seeks to adopt daughter of shooters

A custody hearing for the 6-month-old daughter of the San Bernardino shooters was held Monday, with the sister of gunman Syed Rizwan Farook seeking to adopt the baby, the Council on American-Islamic Relations said.

No long-term decisions were made, and the child will remain in county custody for now. Another hearing is set for next month.

"The family is naturally distraught at the separation and are eagerly awaiting to obtain custody of the six-month-old girl," CAIR said in a statement.

qurancvzin7hveaa6dkk.jpg
This book was found in the home of Syed Farook and Tashfeen Malik CBS News

Farook, a 28-year-old restaurant inspector born in the U.S. to a Pakistani family, and Tashfeen Malik, a 29-year-old immigrant from Pakistan, went on the rampage at a holiday luncheon at about the same time Malik pledged allegiance to ISIS on Facebook, authorities said. The Muslim couple were killed hours later in a gunbattle with police.

San Bernardino shooting suspect's sister breaks her silence 03:36

"I can never imagine my brother or my sister-in-law doing something like this, especially because they were happily married, they had a beautiful 6-month-old daughter," Farook's sister Saira Khan told CBS News' David Begnaud in an exclusive interview last week. "It's just mind boggling why they would do something like this."

Saira and her husband Farhan Kahn said they couldn't believe someone so close to them could do something so horrific.

"There are people who can't fathom how a mother and father could drop their 6-month-old baby girl off and then go commit mass murder," Begnaud said.

"Yeah, we can't either," Saira responded.

"Does it make you angry?" Begnaud asked.

"Of course it makes me angry," Saira said.

"Absolutely. It makes us very upset and angry that how you can leave a 6-month-old daughter," Farhan added.

View CBS News In
CBS News App Open
Chrome Safari Continue
Be the first to know
Get browser notifications for breaking news, live events, and exclusive reporting.